While the Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover movie may be lingering in development, the two titans of the toy box are set to collide in a new animated series. Invincible‘s Robert Kirkman is looking to bring the shared Energon Universe setting from a wildly popular series of comic books to the small screen. A new series based on the comics published by Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment, including Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Void Rivals, is currently being shopped to buyers.
According to reports, Joe Henderson (Lucifer) is attached as the showrunner for the new series, which is being described as an adult animated series in the vein of Kirkman’s Prime Video adaptation of his Invincible comics series. Transformers and G.I. Joe, which are both owned by toy conglomerate Hasbro, have crossed over a number of times on the comics page, and a meeting was teased at the end of 2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, this animated series will be the first formal crossover between the two in animation. It may very well reach screens before the mooted crossover movie does; at last report, development of that film had stalled.
What is the Energon Universe?
Launched by Skybound after IDW lost the Transformers license in 2021, the Energon Universe launched in Void Rivals, a series written by Kirkman and drawn by Lorenzo De Felici. Its first issue centered around two aliens from warring factions who accidentally awoke the spacefaring Transformer Jetfire. He eventually awoke his slumbering Autobot and Decepticon brethren, kicking off Skybound’s Transformers series, which was initially written and drawn by Daniel Warren Johnson. The ignition of the Cybertronian war on Earth then led to the launch of Skybound’s G.I. Joe series, as G.I. Joe and their Cobra archfoes battled over the aliens’ advanced technology, as chronicled by writer Joshua Williamson and artist Tom Reilly. Recently, characters from another Hasbro property, M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand), have begun appearing in the Energon Universe books, as well. In addition to Void Rivals, Kirkman has recently taken over writing duties on Transformers, as well, after the departure of Johnson. The Energon Universe books have been consistent commercial and critical successes, selling over seven million books.
Hasbro’s current Transformers animated series is Transformers: Cyberworld, which follows a bevy of Autobot and Decepticon characters transported into a bizarre, video-game-like reality. New episodes debut weekly on YouTube.
An Energon Universe animated series is in development, and will be shopped to buyers. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
